Computers were previously controlled only through keyboards, with the later addition of the computer “mouse” or pointing device. These input devices have the advantage of being operative with all computers but have the disadvantage of being difficult to fully customize, according to the needs of the user and/or of the software being operated by the computer.
With the advent of “smart” cellular telephones, also referred to as “smartphones”, a new input device became popular, which is the touch sensitive screen, also referred to as a touch screen. For such devices, the display also doubles as an input device; the user touches various parts of the screen in order to cause the smartphone to perform various actions. Touch screens are also used for other types of portable computers, such as tablet computers.
Although touch screens provide a flexible GUI (graphical user interface) for user input, they are not a very useful input device on standalone computers, as the user has to reach out to interact with them. Furthermore, on standalone computers, the user needs to have the display screen clear to display data and information, such as images for example; displaying a set of icons and buttons for a user to access via a touch screen would interfere with this need.
It has been suggested that smartphones can be used to control other devices, such as televisions for example, acting as a “remote control”; the XBMC remote is an example of such a device. However, the capacity of such controls is very limited, as only a few control functions can be provided through the smartphone, and in any case, controlling a television does not require very many controls. Thus, there are currently no options for users of standalone computers, other than the standard keyboard and mouse, for controlling such computers through input devices.